


Please Don't Say Goodbye

by nathans_tales



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Heavy Angst, Semi-graphic violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-17 23:09:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12376053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nathans_tales/pseuds/nathans_tales
Summary: One minute sooner. If only she had gotten there one minute sooner. She sat there, clutching Josephine against herself, hands covered in blood. As Josephine took a halting breath, Leliana couldn't stop the tears from spilling. "Please, don't do this."





	1. Chapter 1

One minute sooner. If only she had gotten there one minute sooner. She sat there, clutching Josephine against herself, hands covered in blood. As Josephine took a halting breath, Leliana couldn't stop the tears from spilling. "Please, don't do this."

***

Leliana descended the steps from the rookery, relieved to be done with her work after so many long hours. She entered the main hall and turned towards Josephine's office. She couldn't wait to have Josephine in her arms.

As she came closer, she noticed that the doors leading into the office were cracked open and slowed her pace; Josephine always kept her office door shut to trap the heat. Suddenly, she heard a sharp cry from inside the office.

Leliana sprinted into the room, just in time to watch a dark figure escape through an open window. She heard a groan and turned to see Josephine leaning heavily against her desk, a dagger buried deep in her stomach.

It was then that she collapsed to the floor.

_"Josephine!"_ Leliana cried, running over. Leliana eased Josephine over and onto her back, cradling her head with one hand and pressing against her stomach with the other, trying to ease the bleeding. She knew that if she pulled the blade out, Josephine would lose too much blood.

"Leliana... the assassin..."

"He's gone Josie. You're safe now, I've got you," Leliana tried to reassure her, but her voice was quaking. Leliana called for the guards, pushing her voice so loud she felt it break.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion after that. A guard rushed in and Leliana sent them to fetch a healer. As they waited, Leliana tried to keep Josephine from closing her eyes. Josephine's breathing became ragged as more blood seeped onto Leliana's fingers, soaking into the blue and gold fabric of her blouse. Josephine tried to hold Leliana's hand, but she had become so weak she could only manage a faint grip.

"Leliana, I'm sorry. I-" Josephine coughed, wincing as the blade moved. "I tried to fight him off... I tried-"

"Sssshhhh, I know. Don't speak. The healer will be here soon," Leliana stopped her, afraid of further damage being inflicted.

"I love you," Josephine whispered. "Please remember that."

Leliana's chest constricted, realizing what Josephine was trying to do. "No, no we are not saying our goodbyes. You are not dying here today, Josephine. I won't allow it," Leliana said, her voice growing frantic. Josephine's eyes closed and she sucked in a sharp gasp of pain.

"Josie, don't close your eyes. Open them for me," Leliana pleaded. Josephine's eyes stayed closed, and she took a halting breath. Leliana couldn't stop the tears from spilling. "Please, don't do this." Josephine's chest began to still as her breathing slowed; suddenly Leliana couldn't tell if she was still breathing.

"Josie? Josie please wake up. I need you to wake up, I can't do this without you," Leliana begged desperately.

The guards returned then, Solas in tow. They tried to pull Leliana away, but she didn't hear them. Josephine had stopped breathing.

Leliana could do nothing as Solas moved beside her; all she could do was sit there and watch as her dearest love, her best friend, lied there in her arms, lifeless.


	2. Chapter 2

The world around her was a silent haze as Leliana sat outside Josephine's quarters, waiting. After they had taken Josephine from her office, she'd unleashed her despair onto the guards as fury; where had they been? Why weren't they guarding Josephine's office as directed? She tore into them with every aching part of her soul, but she knew that the blame was truly hers to bear. She should have been there with Josephine, ensuring her safety when she _knew_ that there was an assassin contract on her life.

Her failure to protect those she cared for, those who depended on her, was nothing new. She couldn’t save the warden, her dear friend, from their fate with the Archdemon. She failed to protect Dorothea — her mentor, her guide, the woman who saved her from her darkest hour — from her demise at the Temple of Sacred Ashes. Now, she had failed to protect the most important person in her life from something as simple as an assassin. Leliana buried her face in her hands, utterly defeated. She would never forgive herself for this.

The door opened and Solas emerged; dark circles under his eyes, shoulders hunched from hours of healing. Leliana stood abruptly.

Solas regarded her quietly for a moment before speaking. "She is alive and stable," he started, and Leliana felt her knees nearly give way beneath the flood of relief. "She will need to rest, and I will return periodically to check on her. I have left some potions that will help ease the pain."  
Leliana was so overwhelmed she could hardly speak.

"Thank you, Solas," she managed. When Solas stepped away, Leliana rushed through the door.

Josephine laid in bed, looking worn, but her chest was rising and falling with her breath and Leliana couldn't imagine a more wonderful sight. As she approached the bed, Josephine's eyes slowly opened and met her gaze.

"Josie!" Leliana nearly sobbed, taking her hand. "I thought I had lost you, I thought you had—" she choked out as the tears found her again.

Josephine gave a tired smile and replied, "It would take much more than that for me to leave you, my love."

Leliana let out a tear-strained laugh and kissed her, fear finally gone. She removed her armor and crawled into bed beside Josephine, carefully wrapping her arms around her.

She had been given a second chance, and she would not make the same mistakes again.

**Author's Note:**

> Based off the dialogue prompt: "I need you to wake up because I can't do this without you" from this tumblr post http://nathans-tales.tumblr.com/post/166341873479/cute-shippy-starters


End file.
